


Skipping Through Beacon

by OnlyTheResults



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 21:18:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20842148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyTheResults/pseuds/OnlyTheResults
Summary: The Arc family, much like the Schnees, have an inheritable Semblance. However Jaune's father refused to talk to him about it. Now at Beacon, Jaune wishes his Semblance was unlocked. His wish is soon granted, giving him power beyond anyone else. At least, if he could control it. Watch as Jaune skips through Beacon, just not in the way you think. (Crossposted from FF.Net!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This fic is my first fic, and is being updated first on fanfiction.net, where you can see my other stories as well! (I’ll be moving them over slowly too!) I intend to post on AO3 as well as ff.net! 
> 
> Anyways, I own nothing, enjoy the story! Please leave your comments below! It’s a writers lifeblood!

In the harsh world of Remnant, there existed a power all creatures with a soul possessed. They were called Aura and Semblances. Some were powerful, some were not. However the most intriguing Semblances were ones that people inherited. The most famous of these inherited Semblances would be the Glyph’s of the Schnee family. However, another, lesser known inheritable Semblance existed in the form of the Arc family, having acquired it after the joining of their blood with another family long ago. 

This Semblance was about to change Jaune D. Arc’s world. For better and for worse. 

——

Beacon Academy was an experience for Jaune. One that had its up’s and its downs (many, many downs) but an experience all the same. It was the a week since the end of the Beacon Dance and another day of classes. Sitting Combat Class, Team JNPR and their sister team, RWBY, were watching the current match-up between Ren and Weiss. The ‘R’ in JNPR was enthusiastically cheered on by his partner Nora, as well as his other two team members. The ‘RBY’ of RWBY tossed in their cheers for their team member too, with Ruby shouting so loud that Professor Goodwitch had to remind her to stay quiet.

Ren opened his attack with a hail of bullets that almost hit Weiss if not for her glyphs. The ice glyphs beneath her flared to life as she used them to weave out of the storm of fire coming from Ren. As Jaune watched their fight, he couldn’t help but sigh slightly. While everyone knew how much he used to pine for Weiss’s affections, he wasn’t looking at her. No, today he was looking at those shining glyphs. Blue and black went out from her, her Semblance flaring as she fought with Ren. 

While Jaune had been getting training from Pyrrha, for which he was extremely grateful, she couldn’t do much with the fact that his Semblance was still unknown. It was another little failure that piled on the others for him, despite his partner assuring him it was ok (“You never trained in a Combat School Jaune, it’s ok for you to not know what your Semblance is” she would say). Jaune didn’t quite agree. Despite the gains he had made in fighting, he was kept leagues below his cohorts even beyond his lack of training. They all had their Semblances while he had an admittedly large Aura pool. 

Jaune audibly sighed, though only Pyrrha heard it. “Jaune?” she asked in a tone that oozed concern. Her emerald eyes looked worriedly at him. “It’s nothing” he said with the wave of his hand. “I was just thinking.” Pyrrha looked as if she was about to contest him, seeing right through his lie, but the sound of Ren being eliminated turned her attention away. 

The fight was close, but Weiss’s glyphs had given her the edge over Ren that brought her to victory. Both teams cheered for their member as the class came to a close. As he stepped out of the class while standing next to Pyrrha. While she was concerned earlier, a quick reassuring smile from Jaune eased her worries as they walked together with Team RWBY as well as Ren and Nora. Jaune almost sighed again, but held it back to keep Pyrrha from worrying again. He didn’t want to ruin the comfort of being so close to her. Not a chance he thought glumly. His infatuation with Weiss had long ended after he began to open his eyes to his own partner during the Dance. She was everything he wanted to be. Strong. Smart. On top of the world. He didn’t deserve her and he was sure that he had no chance with her in regards to his feelings. 

Heck, he wouldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to date him. He was loser HQ. The Head Honcho of the losers, even.

All the same, he walked back to their dorm room to prepare for Professor Port’s class. As Ren and Nora entered, Pyrrha held his arm to keep him from entering. “Hmm?” he said, a confused look on his face. One look from her emerald hues broke his facade. 

“It was just.... Weiss and her Semblance. All of you guys really. I’m just... I wish I knew what mine was...” he said with a sigh as he came out and explained what was keeping him down in class earlier. Pyrrha gave him an understanding smile before putting a firm hand on his shoulder. The touch made his throat hitch. 

“It’s ok, Jaune. Like I said before. None of us think of you any lesser for not having your Semblance unlocked. You’ll discover it in time.” Her words were always reassuring, but he felt another wave of self-doubt. “I don’t know if I’m able...”

Pyrrha didn’t let him get away with that either. “You’re much stronger than you give yourself credit for Jaune. Trust me. I. Don’t put yourself down so much, I...”

She searched for the words to say but couldn’t. She had so much she wanted to say, beyond just his lack of a Semblance and his self-doubts. Pyrrha wished she had the courage to confess her feelings but once again she failed. 

Before Jaune could reply, the closeness between the partners making him nervous, his heart pounding, the voice of another girl broke them apart. The voice belonged to none other than Yang Xiao-Long, the blonde bombshell of an older sister to Ruby. “JAUNE!” she called out as Pyrrha and him broke away quickly. “Yea, Yang?” 

“Why didn’t you tell me your sister was going to be in Vale, THIS WEEKEND?” Jaune gulped as Yang questioned him with a hand on her hip. 

There was another downside to being Jaune Arc. Besides the immense pressure of his warrior forefathers, one his younger sisters was a world famous popstar. “Oh!” he said meekly, realizing how he should have known Yang would want tickets from him. “Remember our deal, Vomit-Boy!” she teased. Jaune nodded as he gulped. One of his first memories of Yang was her almost throwing him across the room in excitement he revealed his younger sister was the Trish Arc-Una, lead singer for the hit new band Team Buccellati. It turned out that he entirety of Team RWBY were massive fans. 

So they had come to an agreement that Jaune would get them tickets for concerts, early access to her newest songs AND autographed posters. Jaune was lucky that Trish was more than happy to oblige her big brother and his friends. “I’ll call her tonight! I swear!”

Yang looked at him with her lilac eyes before nodding with a smirk. “Well you best be quick! Ruby has never gone to one live before and she’s DYING to go. She even said she’d go a week without cookies! A week!” Yang sounded exasperated but both the Knight and Spartan understood. It must have been deadly serious if Ruby Rose was willing to give up her prized snack food. 

Pyrrha tried to conceal a smile with her hand as Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. The nervousness of before had evaporated at least as they entered their dorm. “At least there are some girls who aren’t totally head over heels for her music!” he joked to Pyrrha and Nora, the latter quickly agreeing with her leader. Pyrrha only chuckled as she discreetly hid her scrolls playlist of Team Buccellati songs. 

——— 

Jaune Arc dreamed often of having a Semblance. In his dreams, he would be fighting alongside his team and with RWBY. As usual they would be doing acts of incredible power with their Semblances. Ruby was flying across the forest, cutting Grimm apart while Nora bounced from Beowulf to Beowulf with her hammer, her muscles emitting light electricity each time she crushed one. Each and everyone of them were incredible.

But unlike reality, in his dreams, Jaune wasn’t useless. He could truly fight! And even better, he had his Semblance. In his dreams it was always vague. Some undefined power that made him crush his foes. At the end of his dreams, he would admit his feelings for his partner and she would reciprocate. They always ended with a kiss. It was bittersweet in a way. He knew she’d never return feelings for a loser like himself. 

But tonight was different. While before his Semblance was vague and undefined, tonight it was very, very defined. Much like Ruby’s, his dream Semblance changed his appearance lightly. On his forehead was something that felt heavy, something he couldn’t quite tell. Unlike before, this wasn’t some power-up, but something he didn’t know to use, yet felt so natural.

As the same fight against the Grimm went on, Jaune looked to use his Semblance as before, but instead, he felt something move around him. His blond hair was no longer short, but long. It waved in front of his eyes and in it, he saw three Ursa come from the left clearing of the forest to attack Blake. 

Shouting out to her in warning, Blake turned to see, as predicted, three Ursa coming from behind her. The same thing occurred again and again in the dream. His hair would show him future events without fail. They would always occur. 

Even at the end, his hair showed him kissing Pyrrha, ten seconds before it occurred. 

Then, Jaune woke up to the sound of an alarm. Groaning, the Knight rubbed his eyes slowly as he adjusted to his waking state. His hands found his sheets and tore them off his body as he rose to partake in his morning rituals. 

Wake up. Shower. Brush teeth. Shave. Restroom. Clothes. Armor. 

It was simple enough and it was something he had gotten into the groove of. It was monotony like this that made him feel like he belonged here for a short while. Jaune looked around to see his sleeping teammates. All three of them remained asleep, something Jaune wished he could be doing. His gaze lingered on Pyrrha for a moment longer, her sleeping face buried slightly into her pillow. It was incredibly cute, but made Jaune sigh again. Not a chance, Arc. Didn’t you learn anything with Weiss? He scolded himself for thinking himself worth her affections. 

As Jaune rose from his bed, he felt wobbly, like there was an extra weight on his shoulders. Yawning, Jaune tried to ignore it as he made his way to the shower of Team JNPR. Despite his best efforts, the extra weight remained. His forehead started to feel heavier, and there was even a slight itch. He wrote it off as nothing and grit his teeth.   
——  
When he stepped out of the shower, the feeling still did not go away. Even during it, the water that fell down his face felt odd. As if it was moving over something extra on his head. Jaune looked down and saw the very edge of a strand of his blonde hair. 

Ren is going to enter the room in three seconds 

Jaune didn’t know why he knew that, but in that sliver of hair he saw Ren enter the room. 

Then Ren entered the room. Jaune turned to look at him. On the face of Lie Ren was an open jaw, something the stoic ninja rarely showed. Jaune knew that and moved to ask what was wrong. “Ren? What’s wrong?” 

Ren lifted a finger that pointed to his forehead. The heaviness was still there but Jaune was focused on his teammate instead. “My forehe?-“

He saw it when he turned around and looked into the mirror. Embedded in his forehead was a face. It was pink, it’s teeth bared and its eyes angry and green. Jaune exploded in a scream of horror and fell over backwards. Looking up at Ren, he saw in his hair once again, images. Rushing after Ren was Nora and Pyrrha. Each of them gasped as they too saw the face in front of them. 

Then, just as he saw it in the hair, they came in and did exactly as he saw. “What’s happening?” he screamed as he saw Pyrrha. She was looking shocked until she put a finger to her chin and slowly began to smile. 

That was the last he saw before he passed out. 

——

Jaune ended up waking up two days later. Initially he thought everything that had occurred was a dream, until Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch were there to speak to him, alongside his team.

He nearly passed out again when he explained that he appeared to have manifested a Semblance. Jaune couldn’t believe it at first, until Pyrrha took a picture of his forehead with the pink face and showed it to him. “We believe, Mr. Arc, that your Semblance is the power of precognition” the Headmaster began to explain.

“Precog-whatsa?” Jaune asked confusingly. “It means you can see what will occur in the future before it actually occurs, Mr Arc.” Jaune looked flabbergasted. A few days ago he was desperately wishing he had a Semblance, and now, he had one that sounded incredibly powerful! “Well... uh... what can I do with it, Professor?”

Professor Ozpin took a sip from his mug. “Well I have been told you have a knack for strategy, Mr Arc. It’s no wonder your Semblance is one that lets you see the battle before it occurs.” Jaune still looked apprehensive about this entire thing. “How long will I be staying here, then?” he said with a cough as Ozpin made to leave the nurses room. “Well, the nurse saw no reason to keep you here anymore, so I’d say you’re free to leave.”

Jaune felt relieved that he could leave already, jumping up from his bed to leave with his teammates. Nora was nearly exploding with questions for Jaune. 

“Does it have a name? What else can it do?! CAN YOU SEE MY FUTURE?” she asked with utmost excitement, looking halfway towards Ren. “Nora” he said with a calming voice. “Jaune’s just discovered his Semblance. It’ll be a while before any of us know it’s full capability.”

Pyrrha nodded in agreement. “I suppose we’ll have to add Semblance training to our routine, Jaune.” Her smile was bright, excited even. Jaune felt his heart flutter slightly. “Yea. But uh, Pyrrha... I think I know one thing about how this thing works already.” Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he took a breath. “It um, only shows me the future for ten seconds and uh-“ 

Pyrrha looked confused, as did Nora and Ren. “What is it Jaune?” 

“I need to be looking into hair to see the future!” he whimpered out, resulting in Nora plastering the biggest grin he’d ever seen across her face. Ren hummed for a moment as Pyrrha held back a giggle. “It seems you need to grow out your hair then. I’d say for now, use Yang’s.”

Jaune groaned as Nora broke into even greater laughter and Pyrrha managed to get a “I’m sorry!” out through her giggling fit. 

While discovering his Semblance was exciting, two things were nerve wracking for him. One, the fact he had to look into a girls hair to use his Semblance and two:

The angry pink face on his forehead showed no signs of going away yet.

It was going to be a rough few training sessions for Jaune Diavolo Arc.


	2. Epitaph

Trying to figure out how to control his Semblance was turning out to be quite harder than he first imagined. Instead of jumping into action like he thought would, he had to work with Pyrrha in order to try and gain some form of mastery over it. As of now, the Semblance seemed to be perpetually active, which meant the angry pink face in his forehead had been on him for at least a week now. 

Team RWBY had thought it hilarious, as did most other students, causing Jaune quite a bit of grumbling whenever Yang pulled out one joke or another.

Speaking of Yang, it turned out only her hair was long enough for him to look into for a while as he grew his own blond locks out. That on its own was a great source of humor for the girl. 

—- One week ago —-

Jaune Arc was fidgeting in combat class. He knew that Professor Goodwitch expected him to try and use his Semblance in a duel, but he didn’t have the hair to do it. Having sat down besides Yang, he coughed lightly and spoke up to her as they both half-watched Blake run around Russel. 

“What’s up Vomit boy?” she said with a smirk as Jaune rolled his eyes. “I need your help with my Semblance, Yang...” he said softly, embarrassed about what he was about to ask of her. One of her eyebrows shot up in interest as he spoke. “Oh? Whatcha need help with?” 

Jaune mumbled out his next words.

“Ineedtouseyourhair”

Yang’s smirk grew wider. “What was that? You’re gonna have to speak up Jaune!” Yang fully well knew what he had said, but she wasn’t gonna waste this opportunity. 

“I need to look into your hair to use my Semblance” he groaned as Blake exited the arena. 

“Well, well, well, aren’t you forward Lady-killer!” she laughed. “You wanna bury your face into my hair, huh? Right in front of Ruby too!?” 

Ruby gave a low “Eep!” As Jaune groaned. Yang laughed harder as Jaune’s name was called by Goodwitch. “Go ahead and look, I’m sure it’ll be fun for you.” Jaune murmured his thanks as he focused on his Semblance, trying to funnel his aura into it. He felt light-weight, like when a Bullhead was taking off and your stomach jumped. Yang felt something too, the feeling of her hair moving without any wind breezing by. A low rippling sound was made as Jaune peered into her hair.

———- Present ——-

Groaning again as Pyrrha led them off the roof, Jaune looked up from keeping his hands on his knees to looking at Pyrrha. At least Jaune knew that if he ever garnered the courage to admit his feelings for the Spartan, he could use Epitaph to see if she would reject him. 

Jaune had come to name his semblance Epitaph. Both JNPR and RWBY liked it and frankly he thought it was cool. What he wouldn’t say is that he saw it on some Semblance naming website on his scroll. 

Despite the hardships that came with training his Semblance, he was relieved he had finally unlocked his. It had even come in handy with his friends, both in fights and in their everyday lives! Jaune thought back to the time Weiss asked him for some help! Help from him! 

—— One day ago——

Weiss approached Jaune’s table at the library. While before she was loathe to ask him for help, ever since the dance the two had become just as close as the rest of their friend group. Weiss found Jaune much more dependable and like-able as a person when he wasn’t embarrassingly trying to win her affections. She now had the luxury of watching him embarrassingly fail to tell Pyrrha of his obvious crush on her, and vice versa. 

“Hello Jaune” she said in a pleasant voice, informal but carrying the constant hint of superiority on it. It was simply the way she spoke with friends. “Uh, hey Weiss” he greeted back, looking up from his textbook in the library. Weiss smiled and took a seat, trying her hardest to ignore the ugly, and angry pink face on his forehead. It was something truly unnerving to look at, like it was part of something else that just hadn’t fully appeared yet.

“What’s up?” Jaune inquired as he sat back in his seat. 

“I need some help with....”

“Neptune” he said firmly. Weiss’s eyes opened slightly before narrowing. “Did you use...” 

Jaune just laughed. “I don’t need precognition to know what you need help with, Weiss!” The Heiress was about to say something scathing to the blonde knight before she broke out into a grin. “I suppose it isn’t much of a secret. I still haven’t thanked you for what you did at the Dance...” 

Jaune simply shrugged. “It’s nothing. We’re friends right? Friends look out for each other.” Weiss smiled at that. Friends. Weiss had lived a life without any true friends. Having the dolt of a knight as her friend as well pleased her greatly. “So, whatcha need me to do?” Weiss re-straightened her back as she spoke again. “Well, I thought that if maybe... you could use your Semblance to see if he’d go on a date with me if I asked? I haven’t been able to catch him since the dance and.... I also thought it would be a good way for you to train with your Semblance.”

Jaune hummed for a moment, the gears turning in his head. He couldn’t deny her logic. His Semblance could get a practical use and he’d be helping Weiss with her boy problems. “Sure! Where is Neptune?” 

Weiss broke into another large smile, the Ice Queen melting her barriers for him. “With Sun in the cafeteria. Let’s go!” 

Jaune followed behind Weiss as they passed through the halls of Beacon all the way to the cafeteria. Though most tried to hide it, Jaune knew people were looking at him. At Epitaph. The knight rubbed his neck awkwardly, feeling self conscious about himself. 

“Don’t mind them” Weiss said softly. “You should be proud, Jaune. You’ll learn to control it, soon. You’ve always tried harder than everyone. Though I’d never admit it before” she admitted now. Jaune perked up with a chuckle. “I’ll make sure to keep it secret.” Weiss cracked a smile, trying to keep up her air of uprightness regardless of how much she utterly failed at it. “You better, dolt.” 

As they entered the cafeteria, both teens scanned for the blue haired member of Team SSSN. The eyes of the white haired Heiress lit up when she saw Neptune over by a table with the rest of his team. “Alright Jaune...” she took a breath and the knight found himself copying her. The pair walked closer, as Jaune took breaths to try and focus his aura, focus his Semblance. Use what Pyrrha taught you. Focus. Channel your aura. You’ve got a lot of it Arc! Snow angel is counting on you! Jaune broke out of his impromptu mental pep-talk when Weiss snapped her fingers at him. 

Nervously, Jaune stepped forward and looked at Neptune and Sun. They were very close, and Jaune figured he could see what would happen when Weiss went ahead with fate. His breathing leveled as he focused his aura, channeling his soul to try and control his Semblance. 

Weiss was drowned out alongside the chatter of the cafeteria. He’d done something like this once or twice before, focusing his aura to try and will his Semblance into active use like the rest of the Hunters and Huntresses in training did. His mind came to a crawl as an image of Pyrrha came into view. That was his clarity. His focus.

Opening his eyes, the boy felt his long hair float up. Looking into the bangs of his hair the blonde knight could hear the ripple that signaled his Semblance going into effect. Within his hair an image began to form and then play. 

Weiss walked up to Neptune with a small but nervous smile and tried to get his attention. Regrettably, his focus was on two other women. He almost totally ignored Weiss if it wasn’t for Sun flicking him on the shoulder. Turning to her, he meekly greeted her before the Heiress stammered out here request for an outing to Vale. Neptune coughed for a while before Sun flicked him again. The blue haired boy coughed out a low “Sure”, much to Weiss’s delight. 

Jaune’s long hair then fell to their usual resting place as he felt a surge of aura course through him. Weiss looked hopeful, as Jaune refocused in his surroundings. “Well?” she asked with slight impatience.

“He says yes.... After Sun makes him.” Weiss looked deflated, but only for a moment. She stood up straight and shook her head. The Ice Queen then marched up to Neptune and everything Jaune had just saw played out. Weiss walked back to the Knight with a satisfied smile. “I’ve got a date with Neptune this Friday.” Jaune just shrugged and rubbed his neck again. 

Before he turned to leave, Weiss caught his wrist. “Weiss?” Jaune asked, confused as to what else the girl could want. “Thank you. I know we didn’t start off on the right foot-“

Jaune chuckled. “Weeeell I kinda was annoying you. A lot.” 

Weiss scowled at him, but quickly lifted the gaze. “-But I wanted to say. Thanks. For this and the dance. You’re a good friend.” Jaune only smiled until Weiss looked away. “I’m sorry it’s just that face!” she quickly squealed. “It’s angry! And ugly! And it’s looking at me!” Jaune only laughed in response as Weiss scurried off and waved her goodbyes.

—— Present—

“Jaune?” Pyrrha asked, her green gaze looking at him with his hands on his knees. The Spartan looked at him with concern, one hand on the stair railing that led back down to the rest of Beacon. Her eyes were always looking out for him AND checking him out. She was a good multitasker. 

“I’m good” Jaune wheezed out. “Just.... It’s been really hard trying to get this Semblance under control.” Pyrrha sensed he was about to go on some long self-depreciating speech about how much better everyone else is and how they probably managed to control their Semblances with ease. Pyrrha huffed a strand of her red hair aside as she walked back up to Jaune. The blonde knight was standing up straight now, looking directly at her with his deep blue gaze that often sent shivers down her spine. 

“Jaune” The girl repeated firmly. “Yea Pyrrha?” he replied in that innocent and lovely tone that she always felt calm hearing. “You’re doing great. You’ve only had your Semblance for a week.”

“But-“

“No buts.”

Sitting down against the wall of the roof entrance, she beckoned her more-than-just-a-crush to sit by her. Her heart beat, worried he might take it the wrong way. It certainly was the boldest thing she’d done with him. Jaune merely nodded, however and then sat by her after putting Crocea Mors down. They sat silently for a while and just looked at the stars. She relished being so close to him, their hands almost touching. Pyrrha thought she felt her heat-beat increase almost tenfold.

At the same time, just inches away from the woman he was pretty sure he had fallen hard for, Jaune Arc was freaking out. Already a thin bead of sweat was forming at his brow. Even Epitaph was sweating. His heart beat had increased and his thoughts ran left and right! 

“Jaune” she said for the third time, looking at him finally. Her hand was right next to his and it took the pair the greatest of resolve to not hold the others. “When I discovered my Semblance...” she began to say softly. “I had a pretty hard time controlling it too. It took me much longer than the rest of the children my age. I could barely move a fork. And when I focused my hardest, I’d end up ruining everything by tearing out all the metal in a room.”

Jaune couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Pyrrha? Not being ahead of everyone else? But she was so talented! And strong! And beautiful! And perfect and- 

Jaune snapped himself out of listing everything wonderful he thought about Pyrrha to listen to her story. “In fact I was actually considering giving up.” She looked sheepish, but continued speaking. Neither of them had noticed until now that their hands had slowly inched toward one another, nearly touching. Pyrrha caught her breath. But their hands moved no further. Both were too terrified to make that move. 

“No way” Jaune breathed out after a while. “You? Give up? You’re the most determined person I know!” 

Pyrrha blushed at his compliment before speaking again, quietly though. “No Jaune, that person is you...”

“Hmm?” She thanked her lucky stars he hadn’t heard her slip of the tongue. “What I’m trying to say Jaune, is that I’m proud of you. You’ve done so much in just one week. I couldn’t control my Semblance at first too. The same goes for all of us.” 

Jaune sighed with contentedness. He was sitting so close to the woman he knew he loved, and she believed in him. She believed in him from the moment they met, believed in him when she awoke his aura, trained him and now, believed in him being able to control his Semblance. “Thanks Pyr... I don’t know what I’d do without you...”

“Neither would I, Jaune” she said back to him, softly and only audible to herself. The partners didn’t seem to want to rise up and return to their dorm. Up above the shattered moon bathed them in its light. Pyrrha finally rose as she came to the conclusion she had wasted another chance with Jaune. Once again unable to admit her feelings for her blonde knight. 

Jaune followed suit as the two headed for the door. Pyrrha went through first and Jaune followed behind her. 

Pyrrha felt confused. When had she turned the lock to the door of the roof? She swore Jaune wasn’t all the way through. “Pyr?” The boy asked from behind her. “Something wrong?”

Pyrrha looked back down the stairs to see Jaune Arc standing at the end of the first set of stairs and giving her a worried look. “It’s... nothing. I must have let my mind go blank for a bit.” 

Jaune simply nodded his acceptance. It was fairly late after all. The pair walked back to their dorm and entered, only giving a glance to the loud noise and subsequent “RUBY!” coming from Weiss across the hall in their sister teams dorm. Yawning, Jaune took off his armor and his weaponry and shoved it below his bed as usual. Pyrrha couldn’t help but give a few glances at his body whenever he took his shirt and pants off to switch into his night-clothes. Of course what she didn’t know was that Jaune reciprocated in kind. The two were, as expected, oblivious to one another’s affections.

Falling onto his bed with a contented groan of comfort, Jaune Arc spoke up when he heard Pyrrha lie in her bed too. “Hey Pyrrha?”

“Yes Jaune?” 

“Goodnight” he said in a low and soft voice that made Pyrrha’s heart beat. 

“Goodnight Jaune.”

———-

Jaune rarely woke up in the middle of the night. Back when he was younger he would sometimes awaken and rush to his parents room after a bad nightmare(something he did even when he was way too old for it.) Tonight was different though. His usual dreams were not present tonight. Instead, all he heard was a simple ringing sound, like that of a scroll. 

The ringing was unceasing. But for some reason it was not an annoyance but a source of comfort, like it was coming from within himself. 

Duuu duluduludulu do

Jaune’s eyes opened slowly. He blinked several times before rising, his eyesight slowly adjusting to his darkened surroundings. 

Then he heard a ringing sound. “Duuuu duru duru duru ” he chirped out as he looked around for the Scroll. “Who is calling me at this hour?” Jaune mumbled under his breath as he crawled out of his bed. Trying his best to not wake his teammates, the knight began to search for the scroll that was ringing him at such an ungodly hour!

“Duuuuuu dululu dulu dulu du” Jaune sang out again, cocking his head upwards as the sound rang. 

The ringing sound came out again, and Jaune started to get irritated.

Then his eyes fell upon the scroll! At last! Rushing over in the darkness, Jaune picked up one of Ren’s boots and put it to his ear. “Hello?” he said softly, trying to be as quiet as possible. 

He heard nothing for a good few moments. Jaune wondered if he was being prank called by Cardin or someone. Then he heard a voice. “This is a test....” 

It sounded so strange, deep, yet eerily familiar. Like it was a voice he knew. It reminded him of his father, Doppio Arc, and how he’d speak when he was very serious about something. “Hello? Dad? Is that you? Why’re you calling me so early!” Jaune groaned into the “scroll.” 

“One must overcome their past to become stronger. Wouldn’t you agree, Jaune Diavolo Arc?” 

Jaune was too tired to disagree. “Yea. I guess. Listen, what do you want?”

“To let you know I’ll be keeping track of your Semblance and the training you are undertaking. Ours is an inherited one! Never forget that! The crimson king has always been with us! I will call you again soon!” The callers voice was rushed and serious, reverberating deeply through Jaune. While he found it odd, he considered the fact his father was finally showing some interest in teaching him how to be hunter! It was incredibly exciting. I’ll have to tell Pyrrha! The boy thought, almost ready to pass out.

“Sounds good dad. Say hi to Trish for me.” Yawning into the boot, Jaune “hung up” the call before slowly returning to his bed and gently lowering himself back onto it. What a strange time to get a call from dad. Ah well, he’s always been eccentric. Guess it runs in the family. Jaune Diavolo Arc then dozed off swiftly once again.

Across the dorm, Nora Valkiyre had her eyes open and afraid. She couldn’t even begin to explain what she had just witnessed.

“What the fu....” was all she managed to whisper out.


	3. His Name is Diavolo, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please make sure to leave a comment! It’s my lifeblood!

“It’s official” Jaune spoke up after he finished chewing a bite of Nora’s All-I-Can Eat pancakes. Team JNPR and Team RWBY were engaging in the morning ritual of casual conversation and breakfast together before they separated for their classes. “What’s official?” Yang said from from her side of the table. “I hate long hair!” Jaune exasperated to the blonde brawler.

Yang snickered, as did the other girls bar Nora. “Welcome to our life Vomit-boy! Soon you’ll be asking about what shampoo we use and how to style it and-“ 

Jaune groaned loudly as Yang broke into another fit of laughter. Having to grow out his hair from short and scraggly to long and scraggly was not something he had enjoyed. “You know, I could make it that you never got into another Team Buccellati concert again.” His voice was smug but his face had a fake angry look to it. Blake and Weiss gasped. “You wouldn’t” the cat Faunus said. 

“Oh yea?” Jaune retorted with a smirk. Yang looked shocked, as if he would actually do it. Her horrified face looked at him pleadingly. Jaune couldn’t keep his face together and broke into laughter. Pyrrha and Ruby chuckled with him, as did Weiss and Blake. “Oh man, Yang, you should have seen your face!” 

Yang still looked shocked, for once having the tables flipped on her, but more importantly Jaune was just joking. She’d die if she stopped getting the benefits of being friends with Trish Arc’s brother. 

While the two teams continued to talk and joke, Ren looked over to his side to gaze at Nora. Something was clearly bothering her as she barely spoke at all this morning. Having lived almost his whole life with the girl, he knew that when Nora was being too quiet, something was wrong. “Nora?” The stoic said to her quietly. She didn’t respond, looking deep in thought. “Nora?” he voiced again, this time a bit louder. 

Nora blinked twice before snapping her head to him. “Huh?” 

Ren had a concerned look in his eyes. Ever since they were young, he could tell when something was off. “Is something the matter Nora? You’ve barely spoken this morning.” 

Nora shook her head, orange hair lightly moving with it. “Just got some stuff on my mind.” 

She began to rise from her seat, empty tray in hand. Ren felt confused though. Weren’t they all just sitting down? When had he risen to put his tray up? When had any of them done that? 

Ren blinked as he looked around at Team RWBY and JNPR, each of them but Jaune looking around confusingly. “Wait. I still had some food left...” Ruby muttered, silently mourning her lost cookies. Nora herself gulped, and wondered. 

“Guys? Come on, we’ve got Oobleck’s class to get too!” Jaune called out from the exit of the cafeteria. When did he walk there? I swore he was just sitting down with us...

Ren shook his head, feeling confused. He hurried up to Jaune with the rest of JNPR, waved his goodbyes to Team RWBY and walked to class.

—

As usual, Jaune could barely keep up with the Professor of History at Beacon. His hands were straining as he tried to scribble down as many notes as possible. The knight blew a strand of his new long hair as he was given a moment of reprieve as Oobleck took a deep sip out of his cup. To his left, he could see Pyrrha giggling lightly when he huffed his breath at his own hair. Yea, yea, this is what you have to deal with always. He shot her a small smile in response.

“Now! Class! Last session we covered the history of Semblances and their application in non-combat uses! Today we’re going to be covering a brief but important fact of Semblances! Inherited ones!” 

Jaune’s blue eyes fluttered away from Pyrrha and towards the Professor, trying to refocus. “Tell me, which of you knows someone with an inherited Semblance?” 

Weiss tried to keep her head down, trying her best not to look a little smug, though she utterly failed at it. Ruby, for once, shot her hand into the air. “Miss Rose! Excellent!” 

Ruby had a big, silly smile on her face as she pointed to our partner. “Weiss has an inherited Semblance!” Oobleck have her a nod of approval, indicating it was a correct answer. “And what might her inherited Semblance be?”

“Glyphs!” she almost shouted in excitement. “Indeed she does” the Professor replied. 

“Anyone else?” Oobleck reiterated. No other student put their hands up until Blake slowly brought hers up. “Miss Belladonna? Do you know of anyone else with inherited Semblances? They are fairly rare. It’s quite common for an academy to only have one or none even.”

Blake nodded but her amber eyes did not falter. “I’ve been studying in the library and it turns out...” Her perceptive amber gaze fell on Jaune. “The Arc family has an inherited Semblance, though it’s not clear what it is. They first started to manifest an inherited one after intermarrying with the Una family. I guess they keep it a secret.”

Jaune gulped as all eyes slowly shifted on him. He slowly brought his hands up in faux surrender, symbolizing that this was news to him too. Professor Oobleck did seem surprised, but simply nodded and moved on. “Quite interesting, Miss Belladonna! Thank you for informing the class!” 

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around at anything but the class. His gaze finally settled on Pyrrha, who looked worried for him. As usual, she was fretting over his well-being. Jaune let out a low sigh. I don’t deserve her kindness.

Jaune’s thoughts about his feelings for Pyrrha were rudely interrupted by Oobleck’s lecture resuming. Jolting back into focus, he quickly began to jot down notes. The blonde knight wondered if his Semblance would be useful in a situation like this, but even then, it would be hard to hide its use. The angry face on his forehead had yet to go away, so he’d have to just endure. 

— 

The days passed on as usual. Nightly training with Pyrrha, sleep, wake up, class, repeat. Each day that passed meant another day spent gaining mastery over his Semblance. Jaune had been learning things about his power too. So far, he figured that as of now, there was no way to alter what would occur in the future. Secondly, he discovered that what he saw wasn’t always accurate, or could turn out differently than he saw it. 

Finally, Jaune came to the conclusion he could only see up to a maximum of ten seconds into the future and no more than that. 

As Pyrrha and Jaune took their five-minute break, the boy heard a ringing sound. “Duuuuuu dululu dululululu” Pyrrha had gone to bring the pair water, so only Jaune remained up top. “Dammit! Why do I get called during training!” His voice was irritated and high-pitched. He desperately searched for the scroll. “Duuuu dulu dulu dulululu.”

Finally, he found the scroll. Picking up a pigeon on the rooftop with surprising deftness, Jaune held it up to his ear. “Hello?”

The same deep voice that reminded him of his father was on the other side. “My sweet Jaune. Tonight you must learn to control your Semblance fully! Before you can ever hope to advance! You must defeat your weakened self tonight! To be at the top position, one must rise to it! The crimson king is ours! Never forget! Your partner is coming back. I’ll be watching, sweet Jaune.”

Jaune nodded and took in everything his father said before hanging up. He let the scroll fly off before turning to see Pyrrha holding two bottles of water. “What were doing with that pigeon, Jaune?” She asked, amusement in her voice. “Wha?” The knight replied, genuinely confused. 

Pyrrha giggled at him before handing one of the bottles to him. “Drink up, we’re gonna start working on your Semblance soon!” 

“But what pigeon? I was on my scroll-“ Jaune tried to explain, but his voice was too low. Pyrrha turned around with a smile and went to get ready. 

Pyrrha walked over and picked up her spear and shield, taking a battle stance. Jaune shook himself out of his stupor and pulled Crocea Mors out of its sheath. “Now remember. I want you to use your Semblance. It’s a part of your soul. So look into your soul, your aura, and channel it. Just like we trained before.”

It must be perfectly natural, my sweet Jaune! 

Jaune nodded at Pyrrha before taking a breath. He felt surprised when he managed to active it three seconds faster than before this time. The rippling sound echoed in the night and his bangs rose up to his face. 

Pyrrha began to move to the right with Milo, preparing to jab with it swiftly. She then used would swipe up with it to crash into Jaune. He saw finally that her shield was lunged forward as well, to try and slam into him. 

His hair dropped and he readied himself. Just as predicted, Pyrrha moved right and jabbed swiftly swiftly with it. Jaune used his foreknowledge to block it with his shield. Pyrrha’s own shield blocked Crocea Mor’s downwards strike as Milo twisted upwards. The two blades clashed with a cracking sound. Knowing that she was about to use her shield to try and bash him, Jaune tried to sweep kick her but failed. Pyrrha, as forecasted, did her shield bash but to no success. Jaune had already seen it happen so he dodged it with ease. 

Seeing his opening, he used his sword to crash into her side. Her aura took the brunt of it. 

The fight ended soon after, with Jaune laying flat on his back. Pyrrha gave him a hand and he gratefully took it. Pulling him up, Jaune’s weight carried him forward and slightly into her arms. She felt a blush creep up her face as the Spartan tried to get her footing. Jaune himself was almost as red as her own hair when he separated. “I’m sorry!” Was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been so clumsy and-“ His voice trailed off as the pair just looked at each other awkwardly, neither able to admit their feelings. 

“You did g-good tonight, Jaune.”

“Uh.. yea. Thanks. I shaved off three seconds this time.” 

“That’s... uh. Good.” 

The two were awkwardly speaking, the red flushes still on their cheeks. “I guess uh, that’s it for tonight?” Jaune coughed out as Pyrrha nodded. The two began to walk their way back. Pyrrha slightly leaned on Jaune as they stepped down the stairs side by side. The boy was tired, nervous and oblivious. By the time they reached the bottom, they had separated. Much to Pyrrha’s chagrin. 

Jaune opened the door to their dorm and headed for his shower. Pyrrha was about to follow him into the room when she felt a hand grab her wrist from outside. The strength of the hand could only belong to the pancake-loving, hammer-wielding, ball of energy that was Nora. 

“Nora?” she asked, confused. The hammer wielded looked concerned. Pyrrha had noticed that all day she had been quiet. She had intended to say something about it, but this took precedence. “Pyrrha. We need to talk.”

The Spartans brow rose. “About what?”

“Jaune. Somethings really, really wrong.” Pyrrha’s eyes widened. Something was wrong with Jaune and she hadn’t even noticed? “Team RWBY has noticed stuff too. We’re gonna have a joint team meeting this weekend.” 

Nora sighed before continuing, knowing the very last part of what she had to say would bother Pyrrha.

“Without Jaune.”

Pyrrha fueled her lips in disappointment. She figured Nora would say something like that. “If something is wrong with Jaune, then shouldn’t he know about it too?”

Nora looked guilty and felt it too. She didn’t necessarily want to keep Jaune in the dark, but Ren and her had decided it would be for the best, especially with the Vytal Tournament coming up so soon. Jaune would most likely try and assuage their concerns as usual. “You know how he is. He’ll just say nothing is wrong like usual, when we all know something is wrong. He’ll suffer in silence...” 

Pyrrha had to agree with her in the end. The experience he had with Cardin showed he could put himself below everyone else in terms of who he was concerned for. It both broke her heart and made it swell for his affection even more. “Alright...” she finally said after a long pause. “What time?”

—

The week passed as usual, Jaune and Pyrrha training and failing to express their deep feelings for one another, doing homework, freaking out about the Vytal Tournament, and so on. Jaune Arc himself was dead tired, falling asleep almost instantaneously after practicing with Pyrrha. He had nearly gained complete control over his Semblance, managing to reduce the time to activate it to about five seconds. He had even managed to make the angry pink face go away for a few hours! 

Snoring, he swiftly fell away into sleep. A few minutes later, the conspirators of Team JNPR and Team RWBY departed from their dorms. They traveled all the way to an empty classroom, making sure to keep an eye out for anyone who might catch them. 

Inside there was a long table with seats for each person there. On one side sat Team RWBY and on the other, Team JNPR sans Jaune. Ruby coughed and raised her voice with a faux attempt of being ‘professional and leader-y.’ “I call this council of Seeing-What’s-Wrong-With-Jaune in session!”

Nora smirked slightly as Yang tried to keep back her laughter. “Annyyyyyways” Weiss cut in before her partner could say anything else. “Nora, you called us all here. You said there’s something wrong with Jaune?”

Nora nodded quickly, a serious demeanor falling upon her. “Well, a while back.... I saw Jaune doing something really weird.”

Yang decided to chime in at that moment. “Weirder than usual?” Pyrrha gave her a scowl as Blake rolled her eyes at her partner. 

“Much weirder” Nora replied without a hint of amusement in her voice. “I saw him wake up early in the morning, at like, three or something! He never wakes up that early!”

Blake raised an eyebrow and spoke up. “He might have just taken a nap earlier in the day. Sometimes it happens to me.”

Ren raised a hand to stop her from speaking. “That’s not it. Please. Everyone. Just listen. You can add at the end.” The group collectively agreed to let Nora finish her story. 

“As I was saying. Jaune suddenly started making... noises. He was looking around for something and making a ringing sound. Like a scroll. He kept doing it until he picked up one of Ren’s boots! Then he spoke into it like he was having a conversation! I really think he thought it was a scroll!”

Nora felt sweat trickle down her brow, but calmed herself when Ren gave her an assuring hand-squeeze below the table. Pyrrha felt like she had to say something. Everyone, including her, was shocked. Sure, Jaune had some self-esteem and confidence issues, but he wasn’t crazy! 

“I... may have seen him, or seen the end of him doing something like that. We were training and...”

Pyrrha’s voice trailed off as she recalled how strange it was. At the time she had simply shrugged it off as one of his goofy antics, but thinking back now... Jaune had been holding a pigeon to his ear like it was a scroll. He hasn’t even laughed. “I think he may have used a... pigeon as his scroll this time...”

Team RWBY had wide eyes and open mouths. They never expected fun, loving, goofy Jaune to have really lost it this much. Weiss coughed a bit before giving her piece. “Well... I think if Jaune’s mental faculties... aren’t quite together, we owe it to him by getting him some help. We need to tell Professor Ozpin and-“

Nora waved her hands frantically, eventually being joined by Ruby and Pyrrha. “No! No. We can’t tell anyone!” she almost screeched. “He might get sent home!” 

Weiss hasn’t considered that and... despite it all, she too knew Jaune had great potential as a hunter. And she would miss his friendship. They all would. “Alright. We won’t do that. Any other ideas?”

Pyrrha had stayed silent for a while, as had Blake and Yang. The blond brawler was deep in thought, not even putting on a nonchalant attitude as usual. Things were too serious for that. 

Ren again spoke. “Onto the other matter. I think it may be connected.” Ren put his hands together and interlocked his fingers neatly. “Have any of you noticed you’ve... forgotten, lately?”

“Forgotten?” The young reaper of Team RWBY asked with understandable confusion. “Like what, forgetting my lien or something?”

The stoic ninja of JNPR shook his head. Everyone at the table was paying attention with deadly intent. Something bizarre was absolutely going on. “You’re doing something and then suddenly, you found yourself doing something else. Like at breakfast a few days ago. Did anyone else suddenly find themselves putting up their empty trays?” 

Pyrrha bit her lip as she remembered one night of training. Where she had suddenly found herself locking a door and seeing Jaune past her, when he was clearly behind her. “I think I’ve experienced something similar with Jaune....”

Everyone was silent after that. Team RWBY concurred with Ren’s assessment of breakfast several days ago. Blake finally broke the silence at last, speaking with a voice that felt dry as bark. “What do we do then?...”

No one had an answer for her. They had no idea what was happening with their friend, and they were incredibly scared. 

None more than Pyrrha. The boy she had fallen in love with seemed to be unraveling, and there was nothing she, the “Invincible Girl” could do about it.

“Maybe... maybe it has to do with his Semblance?” Ruby said softly after a while. She looked scared but in those silver eyes of hers was a fierce determination. She would NOT lose her best friend. Not on her watch. “All of this started happening after he discovered his Semblance right? So what if it has to do with it?”

The two teams all looked stunned. No one else had considered that fact. “Perhaps... perhaps we don’t know as much as we think we do about his Semblance. I think... I think for now... we should just keep an eye out for him. Maybe meet up again later..” Pyrrha finally said at last. While everyone was indeed worried, they were also tired. 

As everyone began to clear out of the empty classroom, Ruby came up to Pyyrha’s side and put a hand on one of her arms. “We will find a solution. I promise Pyrrha.” The Amazon smiled weakly at her and nodded. 

“Thank you Ruby...” she sighed out, the red-cloaked leader nodding before heading back to her dorm for sleep. Pyrrha sighed once more before heading back to the JNPR dorm. Inside, Jaune was fast asleep, much to her relief. For a little while, Pyrrha simply looked at his sleeping face. It looked calm, handsome and innocent. Even with that ugly pink face stuck in his forehead. “We’ll fix this Jaune... I promise. Goodnight...” Pyrrha whispered to him, squeezing his hand and wishing she had this much courage when the boy was awake.

Soon, she too drifted to sleep. Dreaming of her blond knight. But his aura was not the beautiful white as it was before. No, it was red now. Crimson red. Something hovered behind him....

—  
Ozpin looked down at his watch, keeping track of the time. The headmaster of Beacon would give it a few more minutes before going on with the meeting. Thankfully, the bird he was looking for had arrived. “Qrow” he heard from in front of him. Glynda Goodwitch had snapped at the drunkard before Ozpin had a chance to speak. “Nice to see you too” Qrow groaned, holding his head in his hand. On the computer screen in front of him, General Ironwood looked quite annoyed. If it was about being called so late in the night or at Qrow’s.... everything, was unknown to the Professor. 

“Thank you for coming, Qrow” Ozpin cut through the usual formalities. It was late but it was important and he didn’t want to keep his friends up late. “I’ve called you all here today to discuss a new development.” 

Ironwood raised a brow and Qrow mirrored. “What kind of... development?”

Ozpin sighed and closed his eyes before speaking again. “I’m not quite sure of the details, but I believe it has to do with the Semblance of a Mr. Jaune D. Arc.”

“Doppio’s son?” Glynda queried. “What’s he have to do with this?” 

Ozpin lifted a hand to silence her, as well as letting Qrow know he could not pull out his flask and take a sip. Or rather swig. In fact, how much did Qrow drink at a single time anyways? “I believe that Mr. Arc is showing signs of his familial Semblance. From what I knew of his father, it’s an extremely powerful one... one he himself couldn’t quite control. I believe that Mr. Arc is unconsciously using his full ability.”

Ironwood was fully vested now, and Qrow was too, in his own way of trying to look like he didn’t care. “And what, Ozpin, might that Semblance be? I know about your former student. Doppio Arc was considered too much of a... liability, to be used. Though, perhaps in hindsight...” His voice trailed off. Everyone knew who he was thinking of. Raven. 

“Regardless, if Mr. Arc can be trained in using his Semblance to his fullest potential, then perhaps he and Ms. Nikos can be of utmost use.” Glynda scowled at that. 

“You’ve already made me drag one of my students into this war... now two? Ozpi-“ She was cut off by the sound of a flask being uncorked and the light dribble of a man consuming liquid. 

“Sorry about that” Qrow muttered. “Anyways, where were we?” 

Professor Goodwitch put her face in her hand, taking deep breaths to prevent her from exploding at Qrow. “We don’t even know what his Semblance is? Precognition is a double handed blade! Besides, his skill in combat is hardly comparable to Miss Nikos. If she agrees to being the next Fall Maiden, then she’d be even more above the Arc boy.”

Ozpin smiled at that slightly, much to everyone else’s confusion. “Sometimes, we forgot that even the Maidens are not all powerful. Doppio Arc, and through him, Jaune Arc, all share a tightly kept family Semblance. It’s rarely told to the next successor if they don’t manifest it.” 

Ozpin pushed his glasses up before telling his secret band the true power of Jaune Diavolo Arc’s Semblance. “His Semblance, his power, is that of two halves. Not precognition alone. It’s a curse as much as it is a blessing. Anything the boy sees with precognition is fated to occur. A terrible burden on its own, to see what will happen without any ability to change its outcome.”

“Oz, what are you getting at here? Not all semblances are easy to have. Take mine.” 

Ozpin sighed as his cohorts failed to piece it together. “What I am saying, is that his Semblance has a second piece to it....”

“The boy... has the power over Fate itself.”


	4. His Name is Diavolo, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are my lifeblood! Make sure to leave one!

Pyrrha was unable to get much sleep ever since the meeting between Team RWBY and JNPR minus the J. Her team leader was slowly losing his grasp on sanity, according to Nora, and something was going on with his semblance. It was two in the morning as she lay face up in her bed. To her side were the other beds of their dorm room. Each of their inhabitants were luckily sleeping as she simply stared up. Her heart was beating roughly, her mind racing with thoughts that she couldn’t quite get out of her head. What do I do? The question repeated in her mind all day and night. She had lived her whole life with the expectation that she could do anything. But now, with her partner in trouble and losing his grip on reality, she was helpless. Even if she did do something, Pyrrha wondered if it would even help? The champion hated this feeling of utter despair. Unable to act. Only sitting by and watching the madness occur.  
Jaune was more than just her partner. He was special. He had humiliated himself in front of the entire school just for her sake at the dance. Because of silly little promise. But an Arc never went back on his word! Undoubtedly, he’d do it ten times over for her in a second. Thinking of it again made her blush even in the dark of the night. It made her heart beat harder and turned the little butterflies in her stomach upwards. But I can’t even help him. He’d do everything for me…. And I can’t even help him now when he needs me most. How can I lo-

  
Pyrrha rolled over onto her side to look over at the blonde knight that had captured her heart. He was lightly snoring, strands of his now long blonde hair on his face somewhat. His chest rose up and down slightly in a way that could only be described as cute by Pyrrha. Her eyes were reddened by the days without sleep. Here, as she watched the boy sleep, hopefully undisturbed by nightmares, she even began to feel herself doze off lightly. Even now… You’re doing this for me…  
Pyrrha sighed as she tried her hardest to fall asleep. The red-haired girl tried her best to focus on Jaune’s light breathing as a source of calm. Up… and down…. Up and down… Up and do…  
She finally dozed off at two-twenty in the morning. But this was not to be her relief. In her waking hours she was plagued by what was happening to Jaune and her inability to protect him. In her sleeping hours… Pyrrha had been assaulted by the same dream; no, it was a nightmare above all nightmares. It was always about Jaune. Jaune and the mysterious thing Nora talked about. Her mind would fill in the gaps as to what was plaguing him. Some nights it was Grimm, the others it was Roman Torchwick using some nefarious device, having broken free from his prison. All the same, Jaune suffered in these dreams and nothing she did would help him. The Invincible Girl became fallible. Just as she feared would occur and was occurring with Jaune.

Alongside Jaune and her failures, one thing remained constant. There was a presence. It was dark, evil, and felt like Grimm but not. Unlike the many kinds of monstrous Grimm, this being was humanoid and quite tall, slender even. She never clearly was able to see it, but what she did see was terrifying. It always hovered near Jaune, sometimes leaning down to whisper something in his ears. Jaune’s long hair was erratic, his eyes widened as he listened intently. Pyrrha would try to call out to him, to save him from the being. “Jaune!” she cried out as the boy looked around for a voice, any voice. Just not hers. “Jaune! Please! Listen to me!” The champion ran as fast as her legs could take her, straining and sweating to try and get to Jaune. This night was the first time she had reached him. Her hand took his as he looked around idly, looking for something. “Dad?” he said, his head looking left and right.

  
Then she saw him. Familiar yet foreign. This was the first time she had really gotten a good look at his face. It was standing by Jaune, slightly above him and leaning forward to look at her. He had eyes that looked like sharp orifices with a steep inward slant; from which emerged small, round eyes without sclera, with pronounced eye sockets that had fragmented pupils. Its crown was flat and from his forehead emerged a raised level that bared a smaller, oval face of the same expression. That’s… That on its head? That’s Jaune’s semblance! Why would this nightmare creature have such a thing? And more importantly, why would a figment of her own imagination give it that? The angry face leaned in and whispered into Jaune’s ear. Then, the nightmare would end as it always did. The world shattered apart. The ground broke as all faded away, red lines flying around her until nothing was left but an empty void of black and red with stars far away. Only Jaune remained. Only Jaune and the terrifying face.  
Pyrrha woke screaming again. Her green eyes darted around the dorm as her raspy breath tried to calm down. Her blonde partner came rushing in from his shower, a towel wrapped around his waist with a toothbrush in his hand. “Pyrrha!” His voice cracked as he nearly tripped over himself to try and help his partner. As her heart rate began to slow down, she finally noticed that Jaune was but a cloth-piece away from being exposed to her. As her breathing became regular, it was replaced with a crimson flush crossing her cheeks as she looked at the blonde knight standing over her. His body was slick with water from the shower, a hand holding up his folded towel. Her gaze wandered all over him, from those blue eyes to his ever-improving physique to-  
“Pyr!” Jaune snapped her out of her almost daydream like gaze. His cheeks were blazing too and Pyrrha suddenly returned to reality. “Oh!” Pyrrha squeaked out. Jaune rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand as Pyrrha looked away. “You were screaming…”

  
Oh… Right… That.

  
“I hope didn’t wake you Jaune…” Pyrrha felt miserable. She had possibly woken up her partner and her teammates, nearly embarrassed herself, nearly drooling over herself at the sight of Jaune mostly naked. What will he think of me? Will it ruin our friendship? Will it- “No, Ren and Nora aren’t here. We let you sleep in today. No classes till later this afternoon.” He gave her a goofy smile that comforted her fears. His hand was on the bed, near her own. Their fingers brushed briefly, and electricity flared in both. Pyrrha swore she could hear his heart beat too. Say something! Say something about your feelings! You’re a champion!  
She said nothing as Jaune stood up, his state of undress finally hitting him. “Oh! S-sorry! I should get changed!”  
“No” she mumbled under her breath as her cheeks turned crimson, looking away briefly. Jaune himself rushed towards the drawer to pull out his school uniform, running back into the bathroom to change. Pyrrha rose and got herself dressed as well, the two in their usual Beacon uniforms. Outside their dorm, the two looked at each other silently and awkwardly. “We don’t have class till later today” Jaune spoke softly, finally breaking the silence. Pyrrha raised a brow, a hand grabbing one of her own arms.  
“Maybe we can go to Vale?” His voice cracked again, causing her to smirk slowly. Pyrrha felt her heart explode in her chest when he asked.  
Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes Jaune thought in a panic, a trickle of sweat traveling down his head.  
“That sounds grand” Pyrrha said with a smile.

—  
While Pyrrha and Jaune headed off to Vale to spend time together before class, Blake and Ren were in the library. The two quietest members of their respective teams, both carrying the teammate imposed title of ninja. Together they sat at a table that was stacked high with towers of books upon books. Ren and Blake had spent the past few days investigating the origins of these mysterious happenings in Beacon and what was happening with Jaune. They had classified the bizarre occurrences as “skips.” Each time a “skip” happened, Ren and Blake would meet up to discuss what occurred.  
They had decided to pour over history books to search for anything similar in the past, around Beacon and beyond. So far, they had come up empty. Ren had his nose buried in a large volume by the name of Chronicles of the History of Western Vale from 1099 to 1288. It was inconclusive as far as he could tell, but he hadn't reached the third half yet. To his left sat three other books of the same series. Ren had read all of them and found nothing of value. Taking a sip from his cup of coffee, he turned the next page. Off to the side of their table, Blake was perusing through shelves for new books that might illuminate them to what was going on around them and with their friend Jaune.  
Blake pulled out an old dusty tome that was fraying at the edges. Blowing off the dust with one great breath, she read its title. Genealogies of the Knights of Northern Vale from 100 to Present. Blake placed it between her body and her arm as she continued to look. It took her five minutes to realize the dusty old book would be all she would find in this part of the library. With an audible sigh, the faunus returned to their table, giving Ren a nod a she did.  
There has to be something. Anything. They had been doing this for days, trying to fit it in between study time and classes. It was a herculean task to say the least. Pouring over countless old books to find any clue as to what was affecting their friends and their school.

  
“Anything Ren?” Blake said as she sat down, grabbing her own cup of coffee and sipped at it. Ren silently shook his head, emitting a small sigh of frustration. Blake understood entirely as she opened the dusty tome. Inside were frayed and torn pages that had stains from years upon years of use. Blake turned the pages to find a catalogue of names. There were various families that started and died out across the ages. Some were unidentifiable while some were somewhat recognizable. Regardless, she began flipping pages to read about the various families of Vale. From great to small, she read. Blake was looking for any similarity in what has happening now in the past.  
It took an hour before she found something quite intriguing. The Arc-Una’s? She thought when her amber eyes fell on the half familiar name. Blake had seen the Una family a few chapters earlier, but they had died out hundreds of years ago, so she hadn’t bothered to read too much into them. “Ren…” Blake said with excitement in her voice for once. The ninja of JNPR was near the end of his current volume when he looked up. His eyes were tired from constant reading, his cup of coffee nearly empty.  
“Yes Blake?” replied Ren in his stoic and matter of fact tone. It was comforting as usual in its strange way. The man was a pillar of responsibility and it pleased Blake that the world had more silent, reading ninjas like her.  
“I think I’ve found something. Take a look at this.” Blake waved him over and he moved his seat closer to hers so he could read as well. Tapping the Arc-Una name at the top of the page, Blake pointed out what she discovered. “Seem familiar?” The question was rhetorical, but poor Ren answered anyways. “Yes. Jaune’s family?” he said, confused slightly.

  
Blake nodded before continuing. “Yea, but it says Arc-Una? Did Jaune ever tell you that he had Una in his last name?” Her curious eyes scanned Ren for any signs but found nothing. He looked deep in thought. Why wouldn’t their leader tell them his full name? More importantly, why doesn’t the school refer to him with that name? This had just added more questions to their already deep dive into the rabbit hole.  
“I don’t think he ever told us. Maybe he didn’t know either?” Ren postulated after a good while, finally coming to answer he thought was somewhat satisfactory. Blake nodded in agreement with him. It made sense, if anyone didn’t know their own surname had an extra part, it would be Jaune. “There was a Una family earlier in the book. But they died out” Blake explained to Ren, who was reading the names of the Arc-Una family. Blake was thinking deeply about all of this. What does it mean?  
“Blake” Ren’s voice broke her out of her thoughts. The girl looked up at him, curious as to what he would say. She followed Ren’s gaze downwards and she gasped.  
“They’re all… the same..”

  
Jaune I of Arc, their founder  
His son, Simon Arc  
His son, Nicholas Arc  
His son, Jeramiah Arc  
His son, Jonathan Arc, who bore only one daughter  
Diavolo Una, married Jane Arc  
Their son, Nicholas Diavolo Arc-Una  
His son, Jellico Diavolo Arc-Una  
His son, Silver Diavolo-Arc Una  
His son, James Diavolo Arc-Una  
His son, Amethyst Diavolo Arc-Una  
The list continued onwards until it reached a familiar name.  
Jaune Diavolo Arc-Una.

  
This was certainly something new. Something numbering. Every single Arc after Jane had the middle name of Diavolo. Without fail. It was creepy to say the least. “Ren… what do you think this means?” Her eyes were filled with worry.  
Ren closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know. Look here. After Jane Arc married Diavolo Una….” Ren’s voice trailed off as he thought. “There must be a reason every Arc is named with him. There has to be. Blake… I think found our lead.” Blake nodded quickly, her eyes looking over the list again.  
“Whoever this Diavolo is, we need to find out more about him. And what it means for Jaune.”

—  
Ozpin was beginning to get irritated with having these meetings with Qrow and Ironwood. The same damn conversation about the Arc boy, over and over again.  
“All I’m saying is-“ Ironwood was speaking over the computer, a frustrated look on his face. Ozpin was beginning to share the same features too. If I already wasn’t so old, I believe I would start feeling like it because of this. Qrow has interrupted Ironwood once again, his hands flying off his temples in anger.  
“And all I’m saying is that we shouldn’t be dragging some kid who doesn’t even know how to use his Semblance yet! Besides, we don’t even know who this ‘Diavolo is!”  
Ironwood groaned in frustration. He knew Qrow was right about the last part. No one quite understood what this Diavolo being was, with only Oz making some hypotheses as to who or what it was. “Qrow, we can handle it when we get to it! Ozpin, we should reach out a hand to Mr. Arc. Bring him in with Miss Nikos and explain the truth of the matter. If we don’t, Salem will!”  
Ozpin sighed as his friends argued with one another and pleaded with him. For the past few weeks, ever since Ozpin had told them about Jaune Arc’s true power as well as its little curse, they had been debating whether or not to bring Mr. Arc into the fray. The power to erase time and alter fate in one’s favor would be nigh invincible if probably channeled. If Salem got wind of it, she might try and seize the asset herself. Ozpin couldn’t allow that.  
Then there was the issue of Diavolo. The wizard knew a man named Diavolo several hundred years ago. Back then he was just a small time criminal, so Ozma paid no mind to him. But now? Now he was scrambling to recall everything he knew about Diavolo and what it meant for Jaune Arc. The Headmaster had his work certainly cut out for him.  
If I could just get these two to listen…  
Trying to find and form a theory on the nature of Diavolo and the familial semblance of the Arc-Una’s was becoming increasingly difficult when two of his comrades were at each other’s throats in regards to the path forwards. “Oz, we’ve been operating in the dark here. You told me to find anything on this ‘Diavolo’ guy, but I’m telling you now, there isn’t anything to find!” Qrow was exasperated and Ironwood wasn’t doing much better. His hands were lightly holding his flask in case he needed it. Even Ironwood had a shot of brandy in his hands.  
“It would be best… if we began to discuss this Diavolo. You’ve been putting it off for a while now.” Ironwood seemed to at least agree on that. Ozpin had been delaying. He needed more time.  
Ozpin pursed his lips upward and chewed his tongue. Searching for an answer, he sighed and decided that being transparent with them for now was for the best. “I have some theories. However, this enigmatic figure has difficult to find. Most everything about ‘Diavolo’ or the Arc family Semblance is seemingly nonexistent.” His right hand lifted his coffee mug to drink some of the intoxicating caffeine while Qrow downed some of his. Ironwood decided it would be best to join in as well.  
“Look at that Oz. You’ve got Jimmy downing shots. He really wants some info, huh?” Qrow chuckled as he leaned against the glass window of Ozpin’s office. With a flick of his hair, his eyes turned to gaze down at Beacon where his nieces were enjoying their youth, ignorant of their reality.  
Ironwood scowled at Qrow as he put his glass down and poured the cup all the way up once more. “It would seem to me.” His voice was slow and methodical, having put some time to think about what he was saying next. “That someone or something, has been covering a trail.”  
That is what I feared, my friend. But who? Ozpin thought with concern. For someone to be willfully hiding information about ‘Diavolo’, they would have to be at least hundreds of years old. The only two people that could do that were him and Salem. From what he could tell, Salem was unaware of the Arc family or their semblance, so it couldn’t have been her. Unless I’ve been working on faulty information. “Regardless, I have made some gains on my research. From what I’ve learned, Diavolo Una married into the Arc family several hundred years ago. I believe his blood provided the Arc family with this semblance. I also now believe that this semblance is inheritable only by the men in the family. Much like the women of the Schnee family.” Both Qrow and General Ironwood were quiet. Despite their differences, both men took the information very seriously. The fate of humanity often relied on meetings like these.  
Ozpin pauses to sip from his mug of coffee. His action caused yet another cascade of flasks and shot glasses rising and falling in a rippling succession. Once more, Qrow and him were amused at the General being driven to liquor to cope with Qrow.  
“Finally, I… I’m not quite sure how yet, but whatever this ‘Diavolo’ is… It is related to the semblance. It seems almost inseparable. It’s like it’s merged with their aura. Qrow, do you remember Doppio Arc?.” Ozpin turned to the drunkard with his question, causing Ironwood to move his gaze with the headmaster. Rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to jog his memory, Qrow answered.  
“Think so. Purple hair right?” Qrow half asked and half recalled. Ozpin nodded to confirm that he was correct in his guess. “Yea. What about him? I remember he was a bit… off. Refused to talk about his Semblance too.” Qrow rubbed his chin lightly, his fingers running across stubble they scratched at him lightly. “His middle name was Diavolo too if I’m remembering right.”  
“Indeed” was all Ozpin had to say. This was the limit of his knowledge on Diavolo. For now, all they had to work with was that it was tied to Jaune Arc via his Semblance and aura. The connection however, was still missing. Aura is the manifestation of the soul. It was magic that merges one soul with another like me… so what makes this tick? Do the Arc men have a second soul trapped in them? How? So many questions ran through the old wizards mind as he contemplated the things he had learned. Unless… it wasn’t two souls. Ozma looked to the source of the thought, seeing the manifestation of the other soul. His host soul. The real Ozpin. The man had been watching the conversation intently and most likely had been putting information together for his host. They worked well as a team like that. Perhaps… the host Ozpin began to speak, or rather, think.  
Perhaps it was two souls. At one point. You said that whenever a person dies their soul goes to the afterlife.  
That was indeed what Ozma had told Ozpin, his comrades and all his prior hosts. He’d been there himself and well…. he made a point to never tell anyone what the afterlife was like. If he did, humanity may very well commit mass suicide. Ozma told his host of course, so they would have something wonderful to look forward too when they passed. Something he envied greatly. The afterlife was simply too wondrous to describe in mere words.  
Well, what if it was just a soul that… didn’t do that. A will so firm that it forced itself onto another aura… the Arc family aura. And overtime that soul simply… became one with that aura. To the point that they are one and the same. Indistinguishable.  
Ozpin considered the information and pondered deeply on it. It would put together the missing pieces. But how? How could something like this occur without the influence of magic or the gods? Ozpin didn’t know yet, but he swore he would.  
You make a good point the wizard replied in his mind. While it required he make some assumptions for now, this was a very strong starting point for further research. Looking back at his cohorts, he nodded, signaling an end to the meeting. General Ironwood cut his video feed as soon as the elevator opened for Qrow to exit. “Continue to keep an eye on the Arc boy!” The headmaster called out as Qrow entered the elevator, giving him a hand wave of acknowledgement.  
Sighing, Ozpin turned around in his seat to gaze at his academy. Where are you Diavolo? Who are you? And more importantly, what are you doing now?  
The silence was his only answer.  
—  
Sitting in Professor Goodwitch’s class, Jaune was watching his partner wipe the floor with Russel Thrush. Jaune always admired how incredible she was in battle. Outside of these duels, Pyrrha was kind, steadfast and loyal. But in Goodwitch’s class, she was a monster. There was a reason she was a four time champion. It made Jaune feel even more inadequate in his affections. Their outing to Vale two days ago gave him a spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, she felt the same way towards him. But why would someone like her want to love someone like him?  
Jaune saw her leave from the arena, smiling directly at him. He smiled back and cheered for with the rest of his team, his voice the loudest amongst them. The Amazon came back to his side and sat with him, close as she could be. If only this could be always he thought with sadness.  
“Mr. Arc! Mr. Winchester!” Professor Goodwitch exclaimed as she looked up from her notepad, looking for the two knights. He felt fear well up in his chest. Despite his training in both fighting and his Semblance, he didn’t know if he could take Cardin on. He looked to his right to see Pyrrha smile brightly at him. His heart skipped a beat and his courage rose. I have to win. For her.  
Jaune felt a squeeze in his hand. Is.. is Pyrrha squeezing my hand? Holding my hand? Jaune looked down to see her hand in his. When he gazed up again at her, he saw those green eyes filled with ...something he couldn’t quite place. It felt like the same gaze he had for her. His hand squeezed back. Jaune would have stood there with her hand in his if it wasn’t for Professor Goodwitch snapping at him. With an unmanly squeak, Jaune separated from Pyrrha, hearing her giggle lightly. He looked back and smiled weakly and nervously at her as he took his sword and shield. Let’s do this.  
Jaune stood at the opposite edge from Cardin, his sword and shield firmly in hand. Taking deep breaths, he looked at the suave and confident Cardin Winchester holding his mace on his shoulder with a smirk. “What are you up to Jauney boy? That semblance of yours isn’t gonna do you any good today!”

  
Jaune ignored him and focused his aura, as just Pyrrha told him to. How she trained him to. He felt the rippling sound of his Semblance activating. Blonde bangs rose like magic into the air as he gazed into them. Epitaph emerged from his forehead, as it did now whenever he activated his power. I.. I did it. I did it on demand! A surge of confidence coursed through him as he gazed greedily into his bangs.  
He saw the results, the result of him kneeling, but he saw that Cardin’s mace was out of his hand and in his own.  
It was a short precognition, but he accepted it all the same. He knew that it was unavoidable but he would face it on nonetheless. Pyrrha was looking at her with her emerald orbs. Supportive. Loyal. Lovi-  
Jaune focused himself. He has to succeed! It was for Pyrrha. Always for her. Everything for her. His heart beat hard. “You may begin… NOW!” said harsh voice of Glynda Goodwitch to the two students. He could hear Team RWBY and JNPR cheering loudly for him, inspiring him. Then he heard a scroll go off.  
Wait! Someone is calling me? Now! At all times!

  
Jaune needed to answer that call! It was from him! He would help him win! It must be why he saw that prediction. He would be called and he would help him take Cardin’s mace!  
“DU DULUDULUDULU DU” Jaune made a chink in his neck as it turned upwards. Where was that scroll coming from?!  
Cardin looked at him with a confused look, and Professor Goodwitch simply looked at him annoyed. “Mr. Arc. If you would begin to behave as an adult, you may begin the mat-“ She never got the chance to finish her sentence when Jaune began cawing out the scroll sound. “DU DULULULUDULUDULUDULULULU DU!”  
Jaune’s head erratically turned left and right, moving around the arena to search for the scroll that was calling him. He had to find the scroll. It was the only way to win for Pyrrha! “DU DULULULLULU DU!”  
“Jaune…” Pyrrha said under her breath, utterly horrified at her partner, the man she… had great affection for, screech out like a blubbering idiot in front of his friends and his schoolmates. “Hey! You!” Jaune asked Cardin, pointing at him. The bully looked unnerved, as did many of the students. Some laughed at first, chalking it up to another one of the goof balls antics. That was until he kept doing it. Utterly convinced that his chirping was the sound of a scroll.  
“Gimme your scroll!” He said again, pointing at Cardin, more specifically his mace. Jaune began to walk over to Cardin. I need that scroll! It’s the only way I can win for her!  
“Mr. Arc! Explain this at once!” Professor Goodwitch shouted. All eyes in the class were on Jaune Arc, who had seemingly lost his mind out of the blue. His teammates looked utterly horrified, none more so than Pyrrha Nikos. “DU DULULULDULU! Come on man! I just need it for a second.” Jaune lunged forward and with nigh ripped the mace out of a shocked Cardin’s hand.  
Professor Goodwitch moved to put an end to the madness, when Jaune turned to her and she paused with shocked eyes. Some students even swore they saw a glint of fear. Jaune’s aura glowed crimson red, a stark contrast to the white they were used to. She saw just lightly, incredibly faded and only for a moment, a floating figure of red and grey with an angry face.  
Pyrrha saw it too and recognized it from her nightmares. The same angry face. What was it? She was sure now that whatever his semblance, this behavior, the strange skips in Beacon and more were a result of this red aura and figure.  
“Hello? Hello?” Jaune suddenly called out into the mace, holding the hilt up to his ear while the round edge of the weapon sat against the ground. Some students had rushed off to get another professor, or even the Headmaster. Others simply watched with curiosity and horror both. Had the knight simply lost it? Was the pressure of Beacon too much?  
My sweet Jaune. You’ve controlled fully your power. Didn’t you see my sweet Jaune? How you activated Epitaph instantly! My sweet little Jaune! You! We! Are climbing to the everlasting top position! Never forget that you are the crimson king!  
Jaune’s face brightened as he heard the man compliment him, praising his success! I did it. I did it Pyrrha! I learned to control my semblance! “It was all thanks to Pyr, really… and you!” Jaune quickly added that to the end. He didn’t want to offend one of his teachers after all!

  
No! It was only within you! Within us! The Nikos girl will prevent you from eternal greatness! Today you have won a victory! Only I can bring you the power to achieve the everlasting top position! To be number one! You must cease training with her, my sweet little Jaune. I, Diavolo, the king, will teach you how to use your true power. How to use King Crimson! To erase time!

  
Jaune didn’t really understand what he was saying, but it seemed like he was offering him more training at the cost of-  
Pyrrha. Jaune snapped upwards to look at his partner. She was at the front of the glass, staring at him intently. Her eyes were confused and full of hurt, but more at herself than anything else. She had a worried emerald gaze for the man she loved. The champion reached out to touch the arena glass. “I can’t do that. Pyrrha is my partner. My friend. The woman lo-“Jaune almost blurted out his feelings for her, in front of everyone! Especially in front of her!  
Such is irrelevant! You will cease to train with her at once! I will take over! I will forgo calling you with a scroll from now on! I will directly involve myself!  
“No! I’ll train with both of you. That’s final!” Jaune said with steadfastness. Even in this state of madness, he would defend her the best he could, no matter what it was. Jaune would stand for her. Beside her. With her. His heart beat ever faster at his defiance.  
He heard nothing more. The scroll had been hung up. The call was done. “Mr Arc?” Goodwitch said with a careful voice. The sound of heels slowly coming towards him were all that was heard in the deathly silent hall. Even Cardin Winchester was looking worried for Jaune. The knight had saved his life after all…  
“Yes Professor?” Jaune whimpered meekly, fearful that he had done something wrong. Lifting Cardin’s mace, he offered it back to the bigger brown haired boy. He swiftly took his weapon back and then stepped away from Jaune. “I hope my call didn’t take up too much time…”

  
Professor Goodwitch really didn’t know what to say. She was bewildered. Nothing like this had ever happened before during her entire tenure as Deputy Headmaster. “I.. “ The Professor was at a loss for words. What could be done? Had the boy truly his mind?  
Jaune’s blue eyes blinked twice before he shrunk away from the intimidating Professor, taking her silence as an indicator of blame. “I’m sorry ma’am! Please don’t give me detention I-“ pleaded Jaune as Professor Goodwitch raised her hands to hold his shoulders as the boy rambled, having used the palm of his hand to slap his own forehead in self-chastisement.

  
“Mr. Arc!” She shouted finally, bribing his attention back. “Please.” Her right arm extended to motion towards the rest of Team JNPR as well as Team RWBY. “Simply take a seat. Class is dismissed!” Jaune slumped his shoulders and slinked out of the arena to return to his teammates. Why do they look so scared? I just made a mistake! How could I have anticipated the call would take that long! He sighed and berated himself mentally more when he saw Pyrrha. So full of worry and concern.  
“Hey guys! Man, I thought I was done for…” joked the blonde, trying to lighten the darkened mood that both teams seemed to have had clouded over them. “Come on guys! Lighten up!” Turning to Ruby, he smiled at her and began to speak again. “Rubes! Wanna go to the dust shop this weekend like you keep asking? I’ll even let you design blueprints for an upgrade. But don't actually do it!” he exclaimed swiftly. Crocea Mors was not hers to change!  
Ruby had the flash of joy on her face, briefly getting excited at finally getting bestie Jaune to go with her to the dust shop like he said he would! But the reality of what had just occurred was simply too much. Had she truly lost her best friend? Good enough to get into Beacon two years early… not good enough to save my first friend… she thought in anguish. “Maybe another time Jaune” the red cloaked reaper said softly.  
Jaune was dumbstruck! Ruby? Declining a trip to the dust shop? Who had killed her and taken her skin as a body suit! “Come on! What’s the problem? I said I’d go?” Jaune looked upset as his teammates and friends were silent and contemplative.  
“Jaune” he heard Pyrrha say from his side. Her voice was kind and filled with obvious affection that Jaune missed (but was slowly, ever so slowly, taking the hint.) His blue, soul-piercing gaze peered into her beautiful emerald eyes. They instinctively got closer to one another, slowly making their way out of the class, causing the rest to follow along. Jaune felt her hand slip into his again and hold on tightly. Her head nearly rested on his shoulder but did not, given his armor shoulder pads. Jaune squeezed her hand back as they silently walked back to their dorm. Their next class was not for another few hours now that Goodwitch ended her own class early. Nora and Ren looked at Jaune, concerned with his well-being after witnessing what had occurred. As they reached their dorm room, Ren turned to them to speak.

  
“I have to go to the library. Nora, would you like to come?”  
Nora looked at Jaune with total worry, her fears confirmed. What she had witnessed that night had occurred in front of all their cohorts. There would be no hiding it now. She decided that helping Ren and Blake try and find some answers would be the best way forward. The hammer-wielder nodded and followed her ninja away from Pyrrha and Jaune. The red haired amazon gave Nora a silent thanks as she turned to Jaune.  
“Jaune… are you ok?” She questioned in a soft and caring tone. The blonde knight looked confused. Why wouldn’t he be ok? Pyrrha was still holding his hand and he wasn’t letting go any time soon. His face contorted as he tried to wave her concerns off with humor, making a step towards their dorm room. He felt her grip tighten, stopping him from moving and making him face her. They were close, closer than before. I could just lean in and-

He could just lean in and-

No they both thought in unison. That would be a grave violation of each other’s trust. Besides, this was clearly not the time for something so… intimate, no matter how badly they wanted it to happen.  
“Why? Is something wrong Pyr? I promise, I’m fine! I just got distracted by that call!”  
Pyrrha broke her eye-contact and looked away, hiding the wetness that was welling at her green eyes. She couldn’t be seen this way. She had to be strong for him, now more than ever. “You really believe that…” she said under her breath. She didn’t want to believe Nora, but now there was undeniable evidence. Something was truly wrong with Jaune and there could be no hiding. She swore in that moment she would save him from this. Save him and love him. If she could just muster the strength.  
“Believe what?” pressed Jaune, having heard her words. “I really did get a scroll call! It just-“  
“No, Jaune!” Pyrrha snapped her head back up to look at him, trying to hide the tears. Jaune looked taken aback at the sight. His free hand went to her face and wiped the tears away, causing Pyrrha to smile sadly. Even now he was caring for her well-being first.

  
“You were talking into Cardin’s mace, Jaune… that isn’t normal. And it wasn’t a silly joke either. You were talking with someone and someone was talking back and I don’t know who!” Her voice was frustrated, mostly at herself, causing Jaune to worry about her even more so! “Jaune. Please… let us help you ... we can get you the help you need. You don’t have to do this alone.”  
It was now Jaune’s turn to become irritated. While he did not break free from her grasp, enjoying its presence far too much to let go, he narrowed his eyes as he recalled Diavolo’s… words. Why would he recall his own middle name? Huh? His irritation dissipated as confusion set in. “Pyr… I’m fine. Never been better! I mastered my semblance! Didn’t you see! I could do it all by myself and without delay!”  
Pyrrha nodded, affirming she had indeed seen him do it. But she wished he didn’t. Was it selfish to wish her friend and partner never discovered his Semblance? Maybe, but to her it was better than slowly watching him lose his mind because of it. Jaune felt her hand squeeze his own hand again. “I know… and I am proud, Jaune. You’ve come so far and I’m so proud of you. But… you have to come to terms. Something is wrong with you. I think you may be hearing voices?”  
Jaune held a quizzical look. Him? Voices? No way. He was the picture of perfect health! Physically and mentally! Mostly! Somewhat! Above average at least!  
“C’mon Pyrrha, I would be the first to know if I had voices in my head!” Jaune laughed, waving her concerns away once more. “I’m all fine! Now let’s get some-“  
Pyrrha once again felt confused. She knew that they were outside their dorms. She was talking to Jaune about his mental health, something he was denying. It didn’t seem like he was doing it to keep his problems off their shoulders like he did with Cardin, but that he really didn’t think he had any issues.  
That though, was not a current issue. The current issue at hand was trying to figure out why they were now in their dorm room. Pyrrha was sitting on her own bed, confused and bewildered. She never once recalled opening the door, let alone walk through it to sit on her bed. What? What happened? Is this another one of those strange occurrences? Pyrrha looked up to Jaune who was changing into his school uniform from his hoodie and armor. His shield and sword clunked down to the ground with a thump! Pyrrha was far too shocked to even oogle at Jaune’s upper body.

“Jaune?”

“Yea Pyr?” The knight replied with a turn of his head and a smile on his face. Pyrrha flushed red like Ruby’s hair. He was saying something. Saying we should get something? Why don’t I remember ever hearing the end to that?  
“You were saying that we should get something? What should we get?”  
Jaune looked at with one brow raised. That was weird. Pyrrha was almost always paying attention. Especially when he was making suggestions. It was quite odd to Jaune that she had just blanked out like that. “Well, I was saying we should get some rest before the next class. Oobleck really doesn’t like it if we doze off during his lectures!” chuckled Jaune as he slipped as uniform on and jumped onto his own bed, bringing his hands to slide under his head as he looked up. One of his legs crossed the other and he slightly tapped one of his own feet. “Oh… right. Of course…”  
“Everything all right Pyrrha?” he questioned with serious concern. If she was spacing out, that might have indicated a lack of sleep. As team leader, Jaune had to look out for his teammates! Especially Pyrrha! Because she was his partner and he was head over heels for her!

  
“Never better” She said wearily as she turned her body to lay on her side. Satisfied with that answer, Jaune copied her movements to look at her back from his point of view. He wished he could be there in that bed with her. Not like that of course, but… just to comfort her. She clearly seemed distressed. Maybe we can talk later. She seems tired  
See how she questions you. How she doubts you! My sweet little Jaune…. Only I, Diavolo, can teach you to use your full power ... and soon….

  
—

  
After a long day of classes, Team RWBY and JNPR said their good-nights and went off to bed, all of them were exhausted after a day of arduous class work, as well as the elephant in the room, the incident that occurred in Professor Goodwitch’s class.  
Yawning, Jaune Arc quickly switched into his pajamas and fell face first onto his bed, which elicited a giggle from either Nora or Pyrrha. Though it sounded iffy. Sad even. Eh, it’s nothing. Jaune gave no more thought to it.  
As he lay in bed, he heard his teammates put their own sleeping ware on and fall into their own beds. When he heard his partner slam into her’s, he turned his head to look at her. He was surprised to see her emerald eyes looking right back at his blue. “Goodnight, Pyr…” mumbled the sleepy night to his partner. Even being dog tired Jaune knew he could not skip their nightly ritual.  
“Goodnight, Jaune” he heard from the other bed. It aaa soft and apprehensive, with a twinge of guilt somewhere in his voice. Jaune once again paid no mind. Must have been the long day. The Spartan heard her partner swiftly fall asleep while she herself stayed fully awake. Her mind was once again racing. She couldn’t stay up so late like this again, but if she went to sleep… the nightmare would come back. Pyrrha utterly hated it. Being unable to save Jaune. Sighing, she went to close her eyes. Surprisingly, she found her eyelids heavy too. They came crashing down and sleep quickly took her.  
When she awoke, it was due to the sound of speaking. Thought it wasn’t any voice she recognized. It was deep and dark, soft but intimidating. She rolled over and rubbed her eyes to get a closer look at what was making the noise.  
Pyrrha wished she had just stayed asleep. At least the nightmare was just that. A nightmare. This was not.  
Jaune’s aura was flowing crimson red like before. Gone was the white, it’s last traces left in the nearest strands of aura to his own body. Even from her she could feel his massive reserve emanate power outwards. It was his large soul, filled with love.  
Gazing up from Jaune, she stifled as gasp as she saw the same humanoid being from her nightmares. Only his face, once again. Filled with angry. It’s own forehead matched Jaune’s Semblance, bearing even the same angry face as it’s carrier did. The cracked green eyes belonging to the being shot towards Pyrrha. When he spoke, she saw Jaune’s mouth unconsciously move.  
“I will not have the strength to speak with you like this again…. Stay from him. Eternal greatness is only within him. Pyrrha Nikos. Your training of Jaune ... is over.” Watching with fear as the aura dissipated and the being faded away. Her heart rate was shot through the roof as fear took over her body and sweat trickled down her brow. It was the same being. The same angry face from her nightmares. The same thing she had seen for a moment in the arena.  
Who was that? What does he want with Jaune? I can’t let this.. thing.. hurt him anymore. Jaune..  
She turned to look at his now peaceful sleeping figure. He was handsome even now, as his breaths blew strands of his own long, blonde hair aside. Pyrrha would have found if incredible cute if not for the circumstances. As the Amazonian found herself falling asleep once more, she promised herself one thing.  
Nothing would hurt Jaune. Not even that thing.  
She fell asleep and for once, her sleep was dreamless.


End file.
